WWE Smackdown! Here Comes the Pain PS2 Review @ Gaming Target

Written by Adam Woolcott on December 16, 2003

Review: There's John Cena whipping assesЕBra & panty matchesЕMeaning half-naked lasses!

The WWE Smackdown franchise has slowly evolved into wrestling's version of Madden Ц year in and year out, you can count on THQ tweaking the engine, updating the roster, and spitting out a new version in time for the holiday season. 2003's edition of WWE Smackdown, subtitled Here Comes The Pain, continues this parallel between EA's signature sports franchise, with up to date rosters, brand new match types, and an RPG-esque career mode that will surely please WWE fans, as this is easily the best Smackdown game yet seen. There's just enough newness and freshness to the game to help it stand out and truly be better than ever, though it surely won't win over any new fans who didn't like the series before.

While the game is called WWE Smackdown, both the Raw and Smackdown rosters are present in HCTP. With well over 60 WWE superstars, ranging from popular veterans like Triple H, Ric Flair, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, and Kane from the Raw side, there's Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, and the WWE's hottest new star, John Cena, making his first appearance in a Smackdown title, from the Smackdown side of the roster. In addition, HCTP comes with a handful of legendary WWF superstars, such as the Legion of Doom, УMillion Dollar ManФ Ted DiBiase, and Sgt. Slaughter. Unfortunately, 2 of the WWF's biggest legends, Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior are not in this game, as originally planned (as typically, the Ultimate Weirdo decided to take a starring role in the newest Legends of Wrestling game instead, for the glory instead of knowing his own weird rootsЕbut I digress). Naturally there's a highly polished CAW system to create whatever legends you wish Ц though after time with WWE Raw 2 on Xbox, the lack of being able to use a custom soundtrack somewhat tames what's otherwise comprehensive and unmatched in creation quality.

All the usual match types make their return for both solo and multiplayer play, ranging from plain old singles and tag matches to ladders, triple threats, hardcore, cage matches, Hell in a Cell, and so on. New to the mix is the Elimination Chamber, which is a strange, but cool riff on the old War Games bouts back in the old WCW, with 6 wrestlers locking heads in an elimination match, with 2 wrestlers beginning while the other 4 are locked in a glass cage of sorts until he's allowed in. Also, Smackdown finally has one of the moreЕerrЕcontroversial matches added in, with the Bra & Panties matches. In short, it's just the female version of a Tuxedo Match, where 2 of the WWE Divas fight and attempt to strip one another to their bare essentials. In short, it's just something to amuse the male WWE audience (which is pretty much 95% of their viewer base anyway).

All this pales though, to the strong Career mode employed this time around. In RPG-esque fashion, you choose a WWE superstar, pick your side of the roster, and get to work. However, unlike past games, you can elect to start your superstar with exactly zero attributes Ц essentially making your favorite tough guy a total wimp Ц and slowly build him into an unstoppable superstar. Granted, this means you can seriously get your ass kicked a lot early on, as CPU controlled wrestlers are much stronger, but turning the tables and rising up the ranks is quite entertaining. Along the way, you can pick feuds and actually affect what happens by making different choices in how you respond to other wrestlers. Each time you have a match, you earn experience Ц more experience is earned when you win matches, less when you lose. Money is also earned which unlocks stuff in the Smackdown store. The whole thing progresses like real WWE TV, only it winds up being sensible and not so wacky like usual WWE television lately.

Naturally, all this means jack if the game is not playable Ц and with wrestling games that tends to be the case more often than not Ц but Smackdown further tweaks itself into a deep, challenging wrestling engine that does show age, but does at least make attempts to be creative and innovative. The main engine is pretty much the same, and is quite similar to last year's Smackdown release, with the same moves and control systems as the original Smackdown released in 2000 on the PlayStation. Granted, this is not good, and Yuke's needs to do something about that other than just making it harder to pull moves off. What is new is the cool location-damage system that resembles old-time pro wrestling psychology. Within a match, you can target particular body parts, to weaken that section for a finishing move or submission. This was also in Def Jam Vendetta, but in Smackdown, it works a lot better in comparison. If you have Ric Flair, you can work on the legs of your opponent for the figure 4, but if you're Steve Austin, you want to work on the upper body to set up the Stunner for maximum damage. Pretty much, if you don't wear down a section of the body, you won't be able to do much with an opponent, so don't be targeting the wrong body part or you might wind up losing.

The computer AI has been tweaked yet again, making for more challenging fights where mistakes can really cause a problem. СReal' wrestling is momentum-based, and so is Smackdown, where it's easy to string a few moves together for damage, but as soon as you screw up, you can be taken to the cleaners just as fast. It might seem a bit cheap, but it does properly demonstrate the flow of many wrestling matches with this system. Even if it does appear that the game tends toЕuhЕbend certain rules by sneaking in moves to keep their momentum going. On the other hand, the game does manage to even make early fights in your career at least possibly winnable despite low attributes, despite having to inflict massive amounts of hurt in order to win. It works out to be fairly balanced.

On the whole though, as long as you've played one of the previous 4 Smackdown games, you know what to expect with Here Comes The Pain. The familiarity is akin to the same feeling of Madden games, slipping right in, adjusting to the new challenges and pretty much dominating the game in no time. The simple fact is, as long as you enjoy the past Smackdown games and haven't yet gotten your full fix of the franchise, HCTP will be the best possible installment yet. If you're in the other camp, you might as well not bother, as even the location-based damage won't draw you in thanks to the core gameplay remaining largely the same. The next logical step for Smackdown is obviously online play, which might be in next year, but don't bet on it. In other words, this is the best, most comprehensive and polished Smackdown game yet, but it's taken 5 editions to get here, which has to account for something.

In terms of graphics, Smackdown: HCTP is definitely shining and is the best looking wrestling game around on the PS2. The Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth engine is still here, only polished leagues ahead, creating a game that flows very well in all aspects. Wrestler animations continue to be excellent, mirroring the real WWE stars perfectly, be it doing basic moves or their signature tricksЕeven if some are still the same animations from the original Smackdown. Everything runs perfectly speed-wise, with the game not being too fast or too plodding, creating fast-paced arcade action with a simulation twist. And it all runs at 60 FPS smoothly. Other details like a well-animated crowd stand out, as well as the excellent backstage locales for angles and/or hardcore brawls.

As you might expect, the audio in Smackdown is also quite good. All of the wrestler's entrance themes are present, going along with the great entrance renders. The in-game music is a bit crappy though, thanks to boring themes and recycled ones from WWE Raw 2 on Xbox. There's no in-game voices this time around aside from Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler giving commentary (on both Raw and Smackdown shows, unfortunately, no Tazz and Michael Cole to add realism for the Smackdown side), but I'm expecting that sooner or later they'll manage to get the wrestlers to record lines for a game Ц Acclaim managed with War Zone and Attitude, so it's possible here as well. Finally, the crowd has come out Ц a hot crowd, as they might say. The in-game fans get behind their favorite wrestlers and boo their most hated Ц you can even hear them chant Уyou suckФ right to the beat of Kurt Angle's entrance music, even if it's not actually directed at him anymore.